The Tampa Bay Rays sit atop the American League East with a payroll of $44 million, well behind that of their fellow AL East competition in both New York ($209 million) and Boston ($133 million). The Rays entire payroll for the 2008 season is roughly equal to the ’08 salaries doled out to Manny Ramirez ($20 million), J.D. Drew ($14 million) and Josh Beckett ($9.5 million).
MLB. There isn’t an honest person in the baseball world that thought the Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays would be fighting for first place this week.
But that’s exactly what’s taking place starting tonight between the Sox and the first-place Rays at Fenway.
The Sox gave the young and upstart Rays a spanking earlier this season when they swept a three-game series in Boston, but since then, Tampa has gone 19-7 and, entering last night, carries a one-game lead over Boston in the American League East. It seems that every season a surprise team emerges from the lowly ranks of Major League Baseball, and the first-place Rays are the darlings of the American League this season.
“We’re a different team, and they’re a different team,” tonight’s Tampa starter Matt Garza recently told reporters. Garza will take on rookie righty Justin Masterson in his third spot start with the Sox. “[The Red Sox] are on a roll right now. The pitching’s been carrying them for a while, and it’s kind of the same thing here.”
The Rays have won three in a row and tote the best record in the American League. They’ve done it with improved pitching in both the rotation and bullpen, vastly improved defense and an offense capable of holding its own.
The once-lowly Rays have only finished out of last place once in their 10 years of existence, but the Sox are keenly aware they can’t kick around the guys from Tampa Bay anymore. The Rays rank in the top five in the American League in both runs scored and team ERA, and enter with a roster filled with exciting ballplayers like Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford and Haverhill’s own Carlos Peña.
“We know what we’re in for after getting swept by that team down in Tampa,” said Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis. “They’re a much improved team even from last season, and nothing is going to come easy against them.”